Anthony Newman out of the blue
Why is this happening? What is happening? Am I going to die?
"Get down, she's coming down!" I yelled to my friend next to me. All of a sudden, I heard this great rumble and then a great feeling of weightlessness, as if a bird inside me had burst free from its prison and was flying for the first time. Almost in slow motion I saw my bagel and skinny latte sail across my face and the picture of my wife and daughter tumble into the abyss which had opened below me! Arms pin wheeling, I fell down into hell, like a beloved bear, dropped by a child who has grown up...
The smell of burnt toast punched me in the face and suddenly I was relieved to be back to this morning...
No! This can't be happening to me! I thought angrily, I'm going to be late for the board meeting. Winding my window down I shout for the taxi to move his little yellow butt!
"Up yours you little idiot" I steam. 20 angry minutes later with my coffee and bagel, I rush up in the lift to the 80th floor. If i had known that I wasn't going to live past this day, that I wasn't going to see my beloved ones again, I would have lingered on the steps of these magnificent buildings and breathed in the smell of another day in New York. With 5 minutes to spare i made it.
"Sorry I'm late Victoria," I said to the chair of this meeting.
"Now now you know the rules" she replied.
"Sorry Mrs Quinn," I said dropping sarcasm on the sorry.
"Don't worry I'll just take it out of your next payday", she said sweetly but with venom in her eyes. As I sat down, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shooting daggers at me.
As she droned on about the stock markets and whatnot I dreamed lustfully for the time when I could escape this infernal office and take my beloved car for another spin.
BOOM!...
My eyes slowly and ever-so-gently opened, like a flower bud in spring time and I looked around. An apocalyptic scene awaited me... There was carnage everywhere! People were lying in motionless heaps like puppets whose strings had been cut! Suddenly, I heard this droning getting louder and louder and LOUDER as if a million bees had decided that my head would make a perfect new home. I drunkenly staggered to the soot blackened window, clutching my head, begging for it to stop, just in time to see a plane rocket into the south tower!
Smoke started to pour out as well as fire. It was as if the devil had opened his mouth. The flames reached higher and higher as if to escape the building it was tethered to. The day had finally come. The day New York was attacked. The day the earth stood still. I quickly scrambled to the fire exit, only to find it was blocked by the staircase above it. I started to dig frantically, but gave up when I realised it would be fruitless. Falling to my knees, I wept and sobbed for the life I had, the life I was going to have and the life I leave behind. I looked at my options and realised that i have only 1. With my tears creating a river on my face, I prayed that she would grasp why daddy wouldn't be coming home today, that she would understand. Out of the blue, the sweet smell of a honey dough nut sent me back to Wales, England in 1975 when my mum and dad were still alive and our home for the weekend was a mangy old tent from Dad's army days. Mum was smiling, Dad was smiling, everyone was happy, having a great time with not a care in the world.
I was brought back to the present by an ominous groan from the building's structure; I went over to my friend, we hugged each other and said our goodbyes. My mind flashes back to this morning. My wife was getting breakfast for Alice, my daughter, who was starting 1st grade today. I gave her a kiss goodbye and a promise to get her favourite chocolate and melon jam doughnuts from the doughnut shop on the corner on my way back. I got into my new matte black Ford Mustang GT500. I started her up and cracked a huge smile when the V8 monster under the bonnet roared into life.
"See you around 8", I shouted over the roar of the engine to my wife. I reversed out of my drive way and the car hungrily tore up the road and out of sight. I rushed to work only stopping to get the usual at Bennies.
CREAK!
Another horrifying groan dumped me back into this awful present. I guessed what was going to happen before it did...
"Get down, she's coming down!" I yelled to my friend next to me. All of a sudden I heard a great rumble and then a great feeling of weightlessness as if a bird inside me had burst free and was finally spreading its wings in flight! Almost in slow motion, I see the picture of my wife and daughter tumble into the abyss which had opened below me and my bagel being toasted to cinders in front of me. Arms pinwheeling,
I fall into hell. The blistering heat scorching my skin but none of that mattered any more. Oddly calm, considering the situation I was in and that my life would be over in seconds. I let myself relax; my mind was empty except for one fleeting thought…
I'm coming mum, I'm nearly there!